We’re ready to host best marathon in Abuja – Director

The Director of Sports, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lucas Istifanus, on Thursday said the FCT was ready to host the best marathon in Nigeria. Istifanus said this, in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, on the readiness of the capital city, Abuja, to host the marathon. He said the Abuja International Marathon would be used to showcase Abuja as a tourist destination. “FCT in the last three years had received proposals from many marathon planners, but after going through all the applications, we decided to approve the Unicentral Resources proposal. “The FCT Minister has approved the marathon and Unicentral resources application. With the minister’s approval, we are set to host the best marathon in the country. “We want to use the marathon to showcase Abuja and Nigeria as a global tourist destination,” Istifanus said. The Director said the FCT also wanted to use the marathon to kick start hosting of sports events in Abuja. “In the past Abuja was not known to host many sporting events, but we want to use the marathon to kick start our readiness to host international sports events. “Since the approval of the marathon by the FCT minister, we have been preparing to host one of the best marathons in the county,” he said. The Managing Director of Unicentral Resources, Susanna Ogunmiloyo, commended 7 Up Bottling Company for identifying with Abuja marathon. “I want to thank 7Up bottling company for always identifying with sports development in Nigeria. The company was the first to key into the Abuja international marathon. “We call on other companies and cooperate organisations to join us in our quest to showcase the nation as a tourist destination,” she said. Ogunmiloyo said there would be incentives for local runners and students that would be taking part in the race. “Apart from the elite runners that will be coming for the race, we also have good incentives for the local runners and students that will be taking part in the marathon,” she said. The Head of Media, Abuja Marathon, O